Apparently my next book with be Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell which just came available through my library. I reserved it last year for the book club. So, just to be clear, Cloud Atlas is science fiction, right Jon?

I am about to start the "An Orison of Sonmi" section, hopefully the payoff after the first half of this is worth it. So far it has been dragging and although it has been ok, nothing exceptional. I haven't wanted to read too many reviews or the threads here for fear of spoilers, but I am beginning to think I should have. I just hope it does live up to the hype.

So sorry, I am not worthy of the honor of reviewing this novel. If however, my Lord insists it, then I shall endeavor to offer up some humble thoughts regarding its mighty, even epic narrative. Neh? The scope is so vast, the characters and settings are so many, the head is liable to spin at times, so sorry. But the arc it follows is like a peregrine's path through the sky: long but fast and with vicious twists along what might otherwise have seemed a predictable path. I'm sure my Lord would agree that parts of the story can become quite tedious. I am not speaking of the slow-to-develop romance between Mariko and the Anjin-san nor even of the dueling political machinations of Toranaga and Ishido. No, Sire. This humble vassal speaks more to the text and how Japanese is interwoven with the barbarian words in so many places. And then how barbarian words come even to replace Japanese! Or barbarian words standing in for the words of other barbarian tongues! If you'll excuse this vassal's petulant tongue, Sire, it's enough to make one fart dust, so sorry. But these tedious affectations do blend in after a while, neh? and the narrative is quite the enjoyable one — full of so much intrigue and humor. A rousing and enjoyable tale of which I am not worthy to comment further. Please, I cannot live with this shame. Please allow me to commit seppuku at once.

I finished up Peter F. Hamilton's Great North Road. What an ordeal! I mean that in the best way possible. I often get impatient with big books that don't keep the action rolling a big percentage of the time, but Peter F. Hamilton (and Neal Stephenson) are proof positive that it's not my fault (not entirely anyway). There ARE writers out there who can capture my undivided attention for nearly 1000 pages without having to resort to non-stop action--explosions, murder, chases, sex, etc...--on every page to do so. There's just apparently not that many.

This is not an action-packed book. It's a slow burn with lots of twists. Hamilton masterfully gets you to make incorrect assumptions early on and then slowly reveals why your assumptions were wrong (yes, some of those red herrings that were planted early were clearly red herrings, but that did nothing to dampen my desire to learn "the truth"). Pages were turned.

Great North Road is a near-future (near for Hamilton, anyway) police-procedural, alien boogey-man, arctic expedition, world-spanning mystery full of the stuff that fans of Hamilton have come to love: politics, engaging characters, believable (and plot-relevant) social/military tech, entangled plot-lines, and emotion: the big 'E', goose-pimply, I-love-it-when-a-plan-comes-together, moist-eye-type emotion. What was missing (to my delight) was Hamilton's traditional tendency to f**k-up the beginnings of new chapters/POVs/sections with page after page of soul-sucking, eye-glazing info-dumps. Oh, the info was still there! He just did a much better job of dispersing it throughout the narrative.

Given the uniqueness (not to mention the proliferation) of the North family in the story, I'm willing to forgive the fact that the author (or the editor) mistakenly referred to Aldred North as Abner on at least two occasions. The confusion is hardly surprising given the circumstances.

Favorite (relevant) Quote:

Quote:

"We already have the technology in the shape of [insert technological advances here] to step beyond the economics that have governed us for the past few hundred years and free us from material concerns. Yet we don’t. The dead hand of society’s inertia and the financial interest of the elite minority hold us back as a species. They govern us so they can continue to govern us."

Does Peterborough feature at all? I thought Great North Road might be a reference to the road of the same name here in Britain that happens to run through Peterborough (I'm fairly sure), and he has form in that area, with it being a major economic powerhouse in the Greg Mandel books.

I've found it a pretty horrible place the few times I've been there, myself.

The Great North Road (what is now the A1) is alluded to, but it's also a play on words involving the unique North family that plays a prominent role in Hamilton's society. Newcastle is where most of the earth-based stuff takes place, however. Very Geordie.

I finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which I wasn't that into, and I'm going to move onto Third Shift. Yay for another Silo book!

More power to ya! It is one of the very few books I've ever abandoned partway through reading. I hated it. I liked the premise of the story but it was tedious beyond all reason. Ugh! I just could not stomach the writing style and gave it up. I refused to torture myself by reading it. I got about half way through then said, forget this!

I am currently reading Jaws. I've seen the movie - and sequels - many times but never read the book. It's very different!

Don't bother. I found Cloud Atlas to be a real mess. It's a jumble with very thin thread connecting the stories. It's very very highly overrated. It is not science fiction in the least. It's a waste of time to read. Do yourself a favor and find a different book to read.

The other book I read this week was Gracie: A Love Story by George Burns. This was a wonderful, well-written, and fascinating tribute to Gracie Allen written by her greatest fan. I highly recommend this one to anyone who ever enjoyed watching the duo's TV show, movies, or listening to their old radio show. There's not a dull moment in this 300+ page recap of their life together. Unfortunately there is no eBook and it's apparently out of print in paper. I had to buy a used hardcover edition. Hopefully interest will pick up in reading about these two now that Antenna TV is rebroadcasting some of the episodes of The Burns and Allen Show. And you young folks out there who have never seen the show, do yourself a favor and tune in. They're wonderful together; she's a riot.

This is on my TBR list and near the top. I have not been able to find a review that wasn't glowing. I'm highly looking forward to this. I bought it at a library sale. After I read it, I'll pass it on to my mother who grew up in the days of radio.